General Conservation
I-69 / Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) Needs
Your Comments Now!
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA) have proposed I-69/TTC in a Tier I, Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
that is available for public review and comment. This mammoth proposal envisions a 20-50
year building program that could cost $20 billion or more. I-69/TTC would consist of a
four lane truck toll road; a six lane passenger vehicle toll road; two freight train
tracks; two commuter rail tracks; two high-speed rail tracks; and a utility corridor for
pipelines and power-lines. (Mar 08)
What You Can Do to Keep the Christmas Mountains as
Public Lands
As of November 6th, the 9,269-acre Christmas Mountains parcel has received a
reprieve from Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson’s move to auction the property.
There was an immense public outcry against Patterson’s plan to auction this Big Bend
Country parcel to a private bidder. The land was deeded to Texas in 1991 as a gift from
The Conservation Fund with strict provisions limiting its development in order to preserve
its natural values. Protection of the Christmas Mountains is critical for preservation of
wildlife diversity in the Big Bend area. (Dec 07)
HISD LEEDs the Way With New Walnut Bend Elementary
School
It was a joyous occasion, akin to an old fashioned community gathering, at
the dedication of the new Walnut Bend Elementary School (WBES) on September 19, 2007. The
Westside High School Band provided pre-dedication entertainment. (Nov
07)
Sierra Club Meets With U.S. Congressman Gene Green
About Energy
On August 7, 2007 the Houston Sierra Club (HSC) met with U.S. Congressman
Gene Green (29th Congressional District) and his Chief of Staff Ms. Rhonda Jackson.
Sierrans who attended the meeting included Frank Blake, Julia Jorgensen, Karel Van
Lookeren, and Brandt Mannchen. (Oct 07)
Remember Big Bend Ranch State Park!
Public Meeting in Houston - Thursday, February 15.
Do you remember 2005 when the quiet move to sell approximately 45,000 acres
of Big Bend Ranch State Park to the adjacent private landowner sparked outrage across the
state of Texas? The public backlash forced the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission to
reverse course. (Feb 07)
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Forestry
Forest Service Proposes Future Old Growth for First
Time
On December 21, 2007, for the first time since the 1996 Land and Resource
Management Plan (LRMP) was approved for the four national forests in Texas, the U.S.
Forest Service (FS) proposed designation of two areas (stands) in Sam Houston National
Forest (SHNF) as Future Old Growth (FOG). According to the LRMP FOG areas are "Areas
which have been designated to eventually become old growth. Areas will be subject only to
natural forces. No active management practices such as thinning will be applied to these
areas to develop or enhance old growth attributes." The Houston Sierra Club has been
advocating for FOG designation in SHNF for 12 years. (Mar 08)
Letters Needed to Protect Big Thicket National Preserve
From Flood Control Proposal
Local government, developers, and people who live in the 100 year floodplains of
Pine Island and Little Pine Island Bayous (Bayous) are pressuring the National Park
Service (NPS) to implement a flood control project, the removal of downed trees from the
channels/floodplains of the Bayous, within Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP). NPS has
proposed hiring a contractor who could use boats, chainsaws, tractors, and roads to remove
the downed trees. (Dec 07)
Big Thicket Funding Needs Your Letters Now!!!
The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club urges you to write a letter today to
U.S. Senators Hutchison and Cornyn and U.S. Representative Brady in support of funding for
Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP). Appropriations bills are being finalized now in the
U.S. Congress. (Dec 07)
Sierra Club Discovers Seismic Lines Across Big Thicket
Hiking Trails
On October 28, 2007, the Sierra Club hiked the Kirby Nature and Turkey Creek
Trails in the Turkey Creek Unit of Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP) as part of our Big
Thicket Weekend. During the hike the Sierra Club was surprised to find five seismic lines
(two on the Kirby Nature Trail and three on the Turkey Creek Trail) across the trails and
associated geophone equipment, battery boxes and bags, and steel pipes next to these
trails. (Dec 07)
Forest Service Secret Plan to Close Recreation Sites
Revealed - Your Comments Needed
The US Forest Service (FS) is releasing proposals to close thousands of
developed recreation sites around the nation at national forests including campgrounds,
trailheads, picnic areas, boat launches, and swimming sites; charge new or increased fees
at hundreds of other recreation sites; and remove facilities, reduce capacity, and shorten
seasons at hundreds more recreation sites. (Nov 07)
Big Thicket Acquisition Update
We have good news and bad news. (Oct 07)
Comments Needed for Trinity River NWR Comprehensive
Conservation Plan
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) is soliciting public comments on a
Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge
(TRNWR). The CCP is required for management of each national wildlife refuge in the
National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS). (Oct 07)
Forests and Recycling
Protecting forests can be accomplished in many ways. Recycling wood fibers
(reusing paper products) is one of those ways. (Sep 07)
Forest Service Cracks Down on Illegal ORV Use in SHNF
For the past year, the U.S. Forest Service (FS) has expanded its law
enforcement staff from one (Yes, you read that right!) to three in the 163,000 acre Sam
Houston National Forest (SHNF), an area about 40 miles by 20 miles in size. Aggressive
enforcement of the laws, regulations, rules, and orders that apply to off-road vehicle
(ORV) use in SHNF is bringing needed relief to the natural resources we all enjoy and own.
Illegal ORV use damages vegetation, soil, water, wildlife, solitude, and quiet.
(Sep 07)
Some Texas Wildlife Refuges' Funding Stagnates or
Declines
Information obtained by the Sierra Club via a Freedom of Information Act
request from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service shows that funding and full-time
personnel levels for several national wildlife refuges (NWR) in Texas have been stagnating
or declining over the past several years. (Jul 07)
Roadless Lands Bill Introduced in the U.S. House and
Senate
On May 24, 2007, 140 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 16 members
of the U.S. Senate introduced roadless legislation in the U.S. Congress. The National
Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act in the House and the Roadless Area Conservation Act
of 2007 in the Senate will legislatively codify the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule
that President Clinton approved before leaving office and which has been the subject of
litigation for the past 6 years. (Jul 07)
Future Old Growth Area Saved From Logging in Sam
Houston National Forest in Last Minute Miracle!
Since 1994 the Sierra Club has advocated for the protection of a 5 acre
forest of upland hardwood trees. The Sierra Club recommended that this forest (in
Compartment 94, Stand 17) be designated by the U.S. Forest Service (FS) as a future old
growth area. Unfortunately, a timber sale was approved and logging was about to begin in
the 5 acre forest in April 2007. Then a miracle occurred! (Jul 07)
Forest Service Proposes Burning Upland Island
Wilderness Area
The U.S. Forest Service (FS) proposes prescribed burning of UIWA (13,300 acres)
in Angelina National Forest (ANF). The purpose of this action is to "reduce hazardous
fuels". Since Wilderness is an "area where the earth and its community of life
are untrammeled by man (uncontrolled and un-manipulated), where man himself is a visitor
who does not remain . retaining its primeval character and influence . which is protected
and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions" and since the Wilderness Act
requires the preservation of "wilderness character" the reintroduction of the
natural ecological process of fire may be appropriate in UIWA. (Jul 07)
Comments Needed for Upland Island Wilderness Area
(UIWA) Fire Management Initiative
The U.S. Forest Service (FS) has proposed prescribed burning of UIWA (13,300
acres) in Angelina National Forest (ANF). The purpose of this action is to "reduce
hazardous fuels". The scoping notice states that "while not a specific need for
this proposed fuel reduction projects, the reintroduction of prescribed fire will have
positive effects on wildlife and plant species of concern as well as beneficial effects on
remnant fire-dependent ecosystems still present within UIW." (Jun 07)
Sierra Club Provides Input into Oil/Gas Drilling
Proposals in SHNF
The Houston Sierra Club (HSC) met on April 27, 2007 with the U.S. Forest Service
and Famcor and Jet oil companies to discuss the proposed drilling of oil/gas wells in Sam
Houston National Forest (SHNF). (Jun 07)
Forest Service Proposes Introduction of Prescribed Fire
in Upland Island Wilderness Area
The National Forests and Grasslands in Texas had a collaborative meeting in March
to discuss a proposal to introduce prescribed fire into Upland Island Wilderness Area
(UIWA). The purposes of introducing prescribed fire are to reduce the build-up of
flammable vegetation and the reintroduction of the natural ecological process of fire in
Wilderness. (May 07)
Forest Service Proposes Non-Native Invasive Species
Plan With Herbicide Use Dominant
The National Forests and Grasslands in Texas (NFGT) has proposed a Non-Native
Invasive Species (NNIS) management plan. The Houston Regional Group and Lone Star Chapter
of the Sierra Club provided comments on the proposal. (May 07)
Houston Sierra Club Provides Input on Proposed Mountain
Bike Expansion
Before, during, and after a collaborative, in-the-field, meeting with the
U.S. Forest Service (FS), the Houston Sierra Club (HSC) provided input regarding a
proposal by the Greater Houston Off-Road Biking Association (GHORBA) to expand the
mountain bike trail in Double Lake Recreation Area. (May 07)
Blackland Prairie Restoration Proposed for Sam Houston
National Forest
The U.S. Forest Service (FS) has proposed restoration of native blackland
prairies in Compartments 60, 62, and 63 of Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF) near
Huntsville, Texas. The proposal includes cutting or herbiciding of woody vegetation that
has grown on the prairies and burning the prairies to restore grasses and herbaceous
vegetation. The prairies are thought to consist of soil outcrops similar to those of the
Fayette Prairie which ends in far northeastern Grimes County, far northwestern Montgomery
County, and far southwestern Walker County near Richards, Texas. (May 07)
Spaceport Dies, Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge No
Longer Endangered
On February 27, 2007, the Brazoria County Commissioners Court voted, 4-1 to
dissolve the Gulf Coast Regional Spaceport Development Corporation (GCRSDC). Commissioners
Court stated that they were frustrated that little progress was made toward development of
the GCRSDC even though $ 1million in planning grants were provided by the State of Texas.
Another spaceport site in West Texas, Pecos County, has had much more success and has
launched practice space vehicles. (May 07)
Big Thicket Oil/Gas Lawsuit Results in Clear Victory
The U.S. Justice Department, after being advised by the National Park Service
(NPS), decided not to appeal the October 25, 2006 ruling of Federal District Court Judge
John D. Bates about oil/gas slant drilling in Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP) in
Sierra Club v. Mainella. The lawsuit was brought by Sierra Club and the Texas Committee on
Natural Resources (TCONR) due to three decisions made by the NPS to allow slant drilling
for oil/gas under BTNP. The concern was that the NPS did not adequately apply the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Organic Act to analyze the environmental impacts,
including the cumulative impacts, these wells could cause. (Apr 07)
Big Thicket Threatened by Temple-Inland Land Sell-Off,
Please Send Letters
The Big Thicket National Preserve (BTNP), which has been surrounded by timber
company land for the past 33 years, will be stripped naked of this protective buffer by
the end of this year when Temple-Inland (TI) sells off 1.1 million acres in East Texas to
fund the break-up of the corporation into three different companies. Due pressure from
corporate raider Carl Icahn and Wall Street investors TI will divest itself of all of its
timber lands; pay for the break-up with the funds from the land sales; and buy timber for
its mills on the open, international, market. The last of the large timber companies in
Texas is dead. (Apr 07)
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Comprehensive
Conservation Plan for Texas Chenier Plain Complex National Wildlife Refuges
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact
Statement/Comprehensive Conservation Plan/Land Protection Plan (DEISCCP) for the four
national wildlife refuge (NWR) Texas Chenier Plain Complex. The four NWRs are Anahuac,
Moody, McFaddin, and Texas Point. This DEISCCP sets out the management direction for these
four NWRs for the next 15 years. (Mar 07)
Duck Stamps Buy Land for National Wildlife Refuges
The Houston Sierra Club (HSC) has supported the acquisition of lands for San
Bernard (including Columbia Bottomlands), Brazoria, Anahuac, McFaddin, and Trinity River
National Wildlife Refuges. Did you ever wonder how these and other national wildlife
refuges (NWRs), managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS), are funded so that
lands can be acquired? (Mar 07)
Comments Needed on Wildlife Refuges by January 16,
2007!
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact
Statement/Comprehensive Conservation Plan/Land Protection Plan (DEISCCP) for the four
national wildlife refuge (NWR) Texas Chenier Complex. These four NWRs are Anahuac, Moody,
McFaddin, and Texas Point. This DEISCCP sets out the management direction for these four
NWRs for the next 15 years. (Jan 07)
Fire in Sam Houston National Forest
In recent years fires, mostly in the Western part of the United States, have burned large
areas of forests. Because millions of acres burned numerous stories in newspapers,
magazines, television, and radio emphasized the danger of forest fires. It is easy to get
the impression that fire impacts in Western forests are representative of the entire
United States. It would be a mistake to believe this. (Jan 07)
Peruvian Achuar and Rainforests Need Your Help
A Peruvian native people, the Achuar, have recently scored two tremendous victories in
their fight to save the rainforest lands (12 million acres) where they live from the
devastating environmental impacts of oil/gas exploration/drilling/production. They need
your help to prevent oil/gas companies from exploiting their rainforest home. (Jan
07)
Judge Rules Against Sierra Club in Second Part of
Forestry Lawsuit
The Sierra Club lost the part of the Sierra Club vs. Jacobs lawsuit that deals with
the requirement to inventory/monitor management indicator species (MIS) in Sam Houston
National Forest (SHNF) on Tuesday, December 5, 2007, when Federal District Court Judge
Vanessa Gilmore ruled against the Club and for the U.S. Forest Service (FS). A MIS is a
plant or animal species whose health is an indicator of the health of other species or
habitats. (Jan 07)
Lone Star Hiking Trail Job Descriptions
The Lone Star Hiking Trail (LSHT) needs you! For 40 years the Sierra Club has
maintained the 128 mile long LSHT, the longest, continuous, hiking trail in the State of
Texas, located in Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF). We need trail maintenance section
stewards, volunteers, tablers, hike leaders, assistance leaders, writers, a list-serve
person, and a coordinator. A description of these jobs is listed below. There is something
for everyone. Volunteer!!! (Jan 07)
2007 Lone Star Hiking Trail (LSHT) Maintenance/Hiking
Schedule
2007 Marks 40th Anniversary of the Lone Star Hiking
Trail
The year 2007 marks the 40th anniversary of the beginning of construction of the Lone Star
Hiking Trail (LSHT) in Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF). The 128 mile LSHT is the
longest continuous hiking trail in the State of Texas. (Jan 07)
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Transportation
Grand Parkway Toll Road Proposal Will Assault the Katy
Prairie
The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FIES) for Segment E of the Grand
Parkway (GP) toll road is out for public comment. Segment E is the part of the GP toll
road that would slash 14 miles through the Katy Prairie. The result of this proposed toll
road is the direct destruction of 500-700 acres of the Katy Prairie and the indirect
destruction of thousands of acres more of the Katy Prairie due to secondary development
fueled by construction of this unneeded "Road to Nowhere". (Jan 08)
Citizens Oppose Tolled Grand Parkway, Segment C,
Highway
On August 30, 2007 the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the
Grand Parkway Association (GPA) held a public meeting at the George Ranch Historical Park
in Rosenberg regarding the proposed construction of Segment C Toll Road of the Grand
Parkway, which would go from Interstate 59 to State Highway 288, through Fort bend and
Brazoria Counties. (Nov 07)
Grand Parkway Threatens Brazos Bend State Park and
Brazos River Floodplain - Your Attendance and or Comments Are Needed
The loop to nowhere, the Grand Parkway (GP), is rearing its ugly head to the
southwest in Fort Bend and Brazoria Counties. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),
Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), and the Grand Parkway Association (GPA) are
holding a public meeting for Segment C of the GP. (Sep 07)
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Watershed Management
Clean Water & Air
Send EPA a Message: Eliminate Hazardous Air Pollutants
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed changes to refinery
rules for hazardous air pollutants (HAPs, known as the National Emission Standards for
Hazardous Air Pollutants – NESHAP). However, these changes are modest or result in no
HAP reductions. People get sick or die sooner due to exposure to HAPs. You can push EPA to
reduce dangerous HAPs (like benzene, butadiene, toluene, xylene, and ethyl benzene). (Dec
07)
City Passes Ordinance on Groundwater to Allow
Development Before Clean-up
The Houston City Council recently passed a municipal setting designation
ordinance that allows Brown Fields (sites where past industrial activity has resulted in
soil/water contamination) development before full clean-up of groundwater contamination
occurs. The ordinance requires that the developer and those who use the site not use
contaminated groundwater under the site for drinking water. (Oct 07)
EPA Needs Public Comments and Attendance for New
Proposed Smog Standard
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new national
ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone (smog). Every five years the EPA reviews
all new information about ozone to determine if the NAAQS needs to be changed to protect
public health/welfare with an adequate margin of safety. The EPA has proposed a stricter
ozone standard (between 0.070 parts per million (ppm) and 0.075 ppm (using three
significant digits for the standard), averaged over eight hours) because research shows
ozone is harmful to public health/welfare below the present standard of 0.080 ppm. (Sep
07)
Fats, Oils, and Grease Ordinance Passes Houston City
Council
At the beginning of May the Houston City Council passed the long- delayed fats,
oils, and grease (FOG) ordinance. The ordinance had been under consideration for over a
year before it finally passed. The Houston Sierra Club testified at the City Council
Environment and Health Committee in favor of the ordinance and then did the same twice
before City Council. The Houston Sierra Club also visited and lobbied several City Council
Members on behalf of the ordinance. (Jul 07)
Air Pollution Registration and Concrete Crushing Plant
Ordinances Pass
The Houston City Council approved a revision to the air pollution
registration ordinance and passed a new concrete crushing plant ordinance in April and May
2007. (Jul 07)
Houston Sierra Club Supports Regulation of Fats, Oils,
and Grease (FOG)
The HSC testified before Houston City Council in April 2007 in favor of a
proposed ordinance that would require existing businesses with grease/pit traps to pay a
$50 permit fee; clean-out (maintain) these traps quarterly or meet a waiver and clean-out
grease traps twice/year; implement a manifest system to track FOG from generator to
transporter to disposal site; and fund a compliance inspection and enforcement program for
FOG. (Jun 07)
Sierra Club Testifies for Concrete Crushing Air
Pollution Ordinance
The Houston Sierra Club (HSC) testified on April 19, 2007 before the Houston
City Council Environment and Health Committee and again before the Houston City Council on
May 1, 2007 in favor of a proposed concrete crushing ordinance. (Jun 07)
Mayor's Air Toxics Initiative Delayed
Action on Mayor Bill White's proposal to incorporate toxic air pollution in a
nuisance ordinance by using cancer risk estimates as health based air pollution limits has
been delayed until May. The Greater Houston Partnership (GHP), whose industrial members
are concerned about the initiative, has created a committee to determine how to reduce
toxic air pollutants like Benzene and 1,3 - Butadiene. (May 07)
Air Pollution Flares Up in Houston
Things have been very busy with air pollution in Houston. For the first time
in recent memory the State of Texas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ),
has publicly admitted that the air plan for ozone (known as a State Implementation Plan)
will not meet the 2010 deadline for clean air. (Apr 07)
State Smog Plans Needs to be Stronger - Comments needed
by February 12, 2007
The Houston Sierra Club (HSC) urges you to contact the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and demand stronger Houston smog plans. TCEQ has proposed two
State Implementation Plans (SIPs) for the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Non-attainment Area
for the 8-Hour, health-based, Ozone (smog) standard. (Mar 07)
Time Out! - Rally to Stop the Coal Rush - Sunday,
February 11, 3-5 pm, Texas State Capitol, Austin
Lobby Training, 6-8 pm and Time Out! Lobby Day, Monday, February 12
Coal-burning power plants continue to be major contributors to serious health
problems in Texas, particularly among children, senior citizens and other sensitive
groups. Particle pollution alone results in 1,160 premature deaths each year in Texas.
Unfortunately, TXU and other electric utilities are working to build 19 dirty,
coal-burning power plants, emitting more smog-forming pollution and brain-damaging toxic
mercury and as much global warming pollutants as 20 million cars. (Feb 07)
Sam Houston National Forest and Houston's Drinking
Water
As the Houston Area urbanizes it is more important to protect our surface and
groundwater supplies. Actions which protect our water quality and quantity will result in
plentiful supplies of safer and healthier drinking water. These actions also save the City
of Houston and others money. The fewer impurities that must be removed from untreated
water the lower the cost of the drinking water we drink. (Jan 07)
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Habitat Preservation
Trinity River Wildlife Refuge Grows by 1500 Acres
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced in September that the
Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge (TRNWR) will grow by 1,598 acres with the
acquisition of bottomland hardwood forested wetlands in Liberty County, Texas. The land
was acquired via Migratory Bird Treaty money which comes from duck stamps (bought by
hunters and other conservationists), import duties on firearms and ammunition, and
right-of-way payments to the National Wildlife Refuge System. (Nov 07)
Wetlands Loan Act Needs Support
The Wetlands Loan Act has been introduced in both the U.S. House of
Representatives (HR. 2757) and U.S. Senate (S 1641) and needs the support of all Sierrans
and other conservationists. The Wetlands Loan Act protects wetlands and associated
habitats by authorizing a $400 million advance in federal duck stamp monies for the next
10 years so that key waterfowl, wildlife, fisheries, and other wetland areas can be
acquired now, before they are developed and lost, and added to the National Wildlife
Refuge System or so private landowners can be funded to help protect important wetlands
that they own and manage. (Sep 07)
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